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Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Absurd World

What a rediculous place this is - Earth. I can see why so many religions focus on getting outa here. Let me paint what I'm seeing in my minds eye as I write:

India. A country of 1.2 +/- people. Dirty, tons of corruption, extreme disequity and corruption. Picture all the bad stuff you've ever read or heard about the states, multiply by 10 and then display it all, on every street, in most establishments, all day long.

Bosnia. A poor place wrought with civil war and so much conflict. Now, they've got pirates. Imagine that, pirates!
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/31/world/africa/31pirates.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/02/world/africa/02pirates.html

Pakistan. Top Government official encourages Pakistani citizens to kill Taliban.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/world/asia/02pstan.html?pagewanted=1&th&emc=th

I could go on and on with stories like this, it seems. Then, we have somewhat encouraging news:

Russia and the USA plan to diminish some nuclear arms
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE5D7123BF933A05751C1A964958260

One thing that continues to strike me across the face. Self. It's all about self. Why do the pirates do what they do in Somalia? For money. Why do police personnel in Pakistan switch to the Taliban... they get paid more and hey, if you can't beat em, join em. Why does Bush push for reduction in nuclear arms before leaving office? I'm guessing because he wants to achieve one last thing (a good thing I might add. Others might say to achieve one thing - omit the word "last.") And India... sheesh. I have no way to know all the details and haven't been here all that long but everyone has got a pimp. From the rickshaw driver to the hotel manager, most people are working for someone else who allows them just enough cash to eat and live. So, they take advantage of the foreigners who can pay lots more than the rediculous price they ask. Point is, so many places... everywhere actually. We're about self. We're about getting ahead. And, when resources are scarce, we put self above other more noticably.

I'm not exactly sure where to go from here. It remains clear to me that what I'm observing is true and it also seems clear that there are many more layers I don't understand. Regardless of how many layers there are, the apparent issue that we most often serve self instead of other seems to me to cause great distress on the human race. I'm reminded again of this belief I hold - the things God asks of us aren't only best for God, they are best for us.

And so the model of Mother Theresa stands out. We finished recently with a day + at Kalighat. Kalighat was Mother Theresa's first mission (of which now there are more than 130 world wide). It's a home for the destitute and dying. This woman loved God so much, and followed Christ into loving God. She devoted her life to God and was led to love the many, many extremely injured and struggling people of India.

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